BBC's top stars in bitter split over strike

The BBC is engulfed by bitter in-fighting after leading presenters defied a
strike by colleagues to host some of the corporation’s flagship shows.

It is understood that the BBC faces legal action from the union, which believes changes to the pensions scheme could be unlawfulPhoto: PA

By By Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Robert Mendick

9:04PM GMT 06 Nov 2010

The dispute also threatened to escalate as management and union leaders refused to back down over changes to the staff pension scheme.

While presenters including Evan Davis, Jonathan Dimbleby and Sarah Montague crossed picket lines, the National Union of Journalists, the union behind the strike, promised further walkouts until Christmas.

It is understood that the BBC faces legal action from the union, which believes changes to the pensions scheme could be unlawful.

In a blow to Mark Thompson, the director general, a BBC Trustee has criticised his failure to consult more widely and has promised to fight for the members.

The row threatens to set the corporation’s executives on a collision course with the Trust at a time when they are struggling to defend the decision to accept the Government’s freezing of the licence fee.

However, a source close to Mr Thompson said he was adamant that he would not bow to pressure from the union to make further compromises over pensions.

The management believed they had undermined the impact of the strike on Saturday when presenters of Today, its flagship news programme, arrived for work. In a symbolic victory for the BBC, Davis and Montague risked the wrath of colleagues by ignoring the NUJ strike and presenting the programme. The programme was not broadcast on Friday, the first day of the stoppage.

BBC Breakfast was also largely unaffected by the walkout, although Susanna Reid, the regular Saturday presenter, joined others who backed the union’s action, including Fiona Bruce, Huw Edwards and Martha Kearney.

Staff warned that newsrooms would be divided after the failure of some leading presenters to support their colleagues in the industrial action.

A Radio 4 insider said it would “be easy to remember the few breakers as the strike had been solid”.

Michael Crick, the political editor on Newsnight, which was scrapped on Friday, said: “I haven’t listened to the Today programme. I regard listening to or watching the BBC as strike breaking.”

Other BBC presenters told The Sunday Telegraph that they felt the BBC’s management was at fault for its poor handling of the dispute, and said the walkout represented deep resentment at the level of pay and pensions received by the executives.

“It grates that people like Mark Thompson and Mark Byford [the departing deputy director general] have such big salaries and pension pots,” said one Radio 4 presenter.

“There is a lot of resentment about the difference between what the bosses get and what the producers get.

“If you look back, the gap hasn’t always been like this. People now feel as though the executives are in a different universe.”

Robert Peston, the BBC business editor, also criticised the way the dispute had been dealt with, saying: “Management at the BBC has handled the pensions issue clumsily and badly.”

However, he conceded that they had improved the proposed pension changes after intense pressure from staff.

“At a time when many public sector and private sector organisations are under financial pressure, I have taken the view that the latest offer is reasonable.”

Mr Peston was among a small number of high profile names who chose not to strike, which also included Andrew Neil and Jonathan Dimbleby.

It is thought none of the presenters who worked on Friday and Saturday were members of the NUJ, which was isolated in its action after the other unions accepted the BBC’s offer.

Jeremy Peat, a BBC Trustee and chairman of the Pensions Board, yesterday said that executives had failed to consult properly over the changes, which will bring an end to what is widely seen as a generous final salary pension scheme.

“My preference would have been for the executive to work with the trustees in looking to find ways to resolve the deficit,” said Mr Peat, a respected economist. “Instead it felt as though we [the Trust] were sidestepped as management put together the changes to the pensions scheme.

“We’re now at a difficult stage. My main commitment is to the members and working out the best way forward.”

He added: “I’ve made clear to the DG [Director General] where we are. We need a lot more information about the scheme and we need to refine the estimates of the deficit.”

Mr Thompson claims that the deficit in the pension scheme is as much as £2 billion, but the NUJ believes that the total will be much lower when the precise figure is published next year.

Mr Peat will encourage BBC employees next week that the Trust is still working to reach a fair deal for them in an article in Ariel, the in-house magazine. A senior BBC journalist, who is on strike, said: “Any suggestion anyone in the newsroom has got their head buried in the sand over pensions is ridiculous. People understand there is a problem but we just want to know what the actual deficit is.

“We don’t understand why the bosses can’t wait a few months until they know the actual figures.”

Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ, said the strikes would not stop until BBC management improves the current offer.

Mr Dear added that he was pleased with the impact of the strike, but said staff were upset at the decision of Evan Davis and Sarah Montague to work.

“Some of their colleagues will be very disappointed at their action, but it is always to be expected some people will make their own decisions.”

BBC Radio 5 Live’s schedule was severely disrupted on Saturday with its Weekend Breakfast Show scrapped as well as late evening news and phone-in programmes.

Live sport broadcast on the channel was largely uninterrupted, although some sports journalists are thought to have stayed out on strike.

Radio 4 was largely unaffected, although the stalwart From Our Own Correspondent was replaced by an edition of Crossing Continents.

On BBC One, the 12pm news bulletin was five minutes shorter than scheduled and was presented by Peter Dobbie, who normally works on BBC World. The other BBC One bulletins were presented by Chris Rogers, normally a broadcaster on London’s LBC Radio.

A spokesman said: “It is not totally back to normal but not far off. It may not be quite as polished as it usually is, but for most viewers it will be the same service they are used to.”